7/7/2023 0 Comments P51 cockpit![]() Army Air Forces for shipment to Europe for duty with the Eighth or Ninth Air Force. The aircraft is likely serial number 44-72423, which was built by North American Aviation in 1944. More than 15,000 units of the famous fighter were produced.Īlthough almost certainly one of the best P-51D restorations in existence, the Museum's aircraft retains a certain mystery as to its history. Additionally, highly modified Mustangs have enjoyed great success as air racers. Many served in the air forces of other countries into the 1980s. Air Force into the Korean War (redesignated F-51) and Air National Guard Units well into the 1950s. ![]() In the Pacific, the P-51 escorted B-29s on very long range bombing raids over Tokyo. The famous D model incorporated a bubbletop canopy and a total of six. The result was the P-51B Mustang, a long-range, high-performance fighter-bomber with the range to escort bombers from Britain to Berlin and back again. Needing a fighter with better high-altitude performance and following the example of the Curtiss P-40F, North American mated the proven Mustang airframe with the British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. These first Mustangs were a capable aircraft but much potential remained. Army Air Forces soon began acquiring their own Allison-powered version and a dive-bombing variant called the A-36 Apache. It combined the proven Allison V-1710 engine with an innovative cooling system, based on earlier work by the Curtiss Aircraft Company, with laminar-flow wings to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase speed. It was designed and built in 120 days in response to an urgent request by the British for a low-altitude fighter/reconnaissance aircraft. The prototype NA-73X first flew in October 1940. ![]() Now that the Mustang’s together, I need to clean up a few of the seam lines, throw some paint at the wings to make sure the seams are properly filled, and replace some of the brass gun tubes I accidentally knocked into the wings while sanding the filled seams.The North American P-51 Mustang was one of the most important aircraft, and arguably the finest all-around fighter type, of World War II. Tamiya’s Mustang is the epitome of great fit, and if you’re careful you can get it together with a minimum of fuss. Once the wings were taken care of, the P-51 literally flew together. Surfacer 500, then sanded it down with 400, 1000, and 1200 grit sandpaper. After taping off the gun doors and the few lines that had to remain, I dabbed the exposed lines with Mr. Most Mustang kits, the Tamiya included, retain the original panel lines. To that end, North American Aviation filled all of the flush rivets and panel lines on the forward sections of the wings right on the assembly line, and painted them over with aluminum lacquer. In order to wring the most efficiency out of the wing as possible, drag had to be minimized as far as possible. The Tamiya kit’s representation of the P-51’s gun tubes is rather poor, so I drilled them out and replaced them with telescoping brass tubing.Ī lot of the Mustang’s speed and range came from it’s cutting-edge laminar flow wing. Once the cockpit was installed and the fuselage closed, I moved on to the wings. After painting and weathering, I used Airscale’s 1/48 instrument panel decals to punch up the gauges. ![]() Ultimately, my displeasure led me to steal the instrument panel from another Tamiya P-51 I have in the stash. When I cracked open the P-51 box, I was hit by a slew of aftermarket accessories I’d ordered once upon a time: Ultracast gear doors, seat, prop and spinner, Squadron vac-form canopies, and an Eduard PE set.Īfter painting the cockpit areas with Lifecolor Interior Green, Vallejo black and Floquil weathered black, I opted to use the Eduard PE set in the cockpit, and was immediately unhappy with the quality of the instrument panel. However, with the failure of willpower that culminated in my pre-order of Tamiya’s forthcoming 1/32 Mustang, the 1/48 kit has taken on a new urgency as something of warm-up build for that kit, and a perfect platform to work on my natural metal techniques and masking the 352nd’s distinctive blue cowls. My original intention – to use Tamiya’s 1/48 P-51D as something of a decompression build between the Sopwith Pup and Spitfire Mk.VIII – has foundered somewhat on the twin rocks of advanced modeler’s syndrome and the sheer epicness of Tamiya’s big Spit.
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